xvi, 400 pages : 24 cm

First published in 1982, this pioneering work traces the transformation of "women's work" into wage labor in the United States, identifying the social, economic, and ideological forces that have shaped our expectations of what women do. Basing her observations upon the personal experience of individual American women set against the backdrop of American society, Alice Kessler-Harris examines the effects of class, ethnic and racial patterns, changing perceptions of wage work for women, and the relationship between wage-earning and family roles

Includes bibliographical references and index

Forming the female wage labor force: colonial America to the Civil War -- The Idea of home and mother at work: the Civil War to World War I -- Transforming the notion of work for women: World War I to the present

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews